Melbourne-based Sunny Duggal cancelled his holiday plans when he learnt about how the bushfires had affected families in the East Gippsland region in Victoria.
“I had taken time off around New Year’s Eve to spend it with family but when I heard about the bushfires, I knew I had to do something. How can I be on holiday when others are suffering?,” Mr Duggal told SBS Hindi.
“I have friends and family who live in Bairnsdale and Sale. When I heard about the situation, I decided to join them to help the local community,” said Mr Duggal.
Mr Duggal, his brother-in-law who runs an Indian restaurant in Bairnsdale and other friends have spent the last week cooking meals, collecting donations and delivering the basic necessities and meals to the communities affected in the region.
“It is like a warzone,” says Sunny Duggal, who has made several trips from Melbourne to Bairnsdale.
In the last week, Mr Duggal has taken vans and truckloads of donations comprising non-perishable goods like cereals, juices, biscuits and water.
Co-ordinating these donations in Melbourne is Aanchal Meshran of Indian Australian Community Cooperative.
“I have opened up my house to collect the donations. People have been dropping off their donations here. We have collected and sent them to Gippsland area,” says Aanchal.
More than one million hectares have been burnt across the country destroying thousands of homes, killing two dozen people and many fires still burn.
Source: Supplied
“We have sent two vans and one truck with basic essentials for people who have had to leave their homes. These include basic food items and toiletries for them,” says Aanchal.
While Aanchal has opened up her house to accommodate donations, she has an important message for those who want to help.
“My husband is a volunteer with the State Emergency Services and I want to advise people to not go as an individual. There are many authorities on ground to help. We have coordinated with them and sent them donations. But going there personally is dangerous,” she says.
“I know everyone wants to support but it is essential to know the best way to support,” she says.
Source: Supplied
Donate money, not goods
The government authorities and charities dealing with donations have said they have received enough goods and have urged people to stop donating goods.
"I don't want to appear harsh in any way, but we don't need any more clothes, food, trucks on our roads, we don't have the warehouse capacity, the people or the time to sort through," Mr Andrews told reporters on Sunday evening.
"We are very grateful ... but it's really important that those donations stop because they are diverting resources away from firefighting and providing support to those who are in real need."
He said "what we do need though and what those families need most" is monetary donations.
"That way money can be given to the families and they can make decisions that are much more flexible and local."
The NSW RFS South Coast division made the same request on Sunday night after reaching capacity for donated food and goods.
Hindu temple gutted in bushfire
The devastating bushfires have destroyed a Hindu temple in New South Wales.
Sri Om Mata temple at Clarence near Lithgow was gutted after bushfires engulfed the region on December 21, last year.
Mr Jay Raman, President (New South Wales) of Hindu Council of Australia said the temple, managed by a trust, was destroyed when the bushfires got out of control in the Gospers mountain area.
Hindu temple destroyed in bushfire Source: supplied/ Jay Raman
"Bushfires started in Mount Wilson in the first week of December. We requested people to vacate the temple when the fire started moving towards the temple. The priest and other people were evacuated before a ball of fire hit the temple and destroyed it," Mr Raman told SBS Hindi.
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Hindu temple gutted in bushfire
